01
Start at the top, not the gate
Go to the Marinid Tombs on your first evening, before you go into the medina at all. You get the whole bowl of the old city laid out below you, and afterwards the lanes make some kind of sense. Doing it on the last day is a common regret.
02
The medina is a hill, and that is the navigation trick
Fes el Bali slopes. Walking downhill takes you towards the river and the centre; uphill takes you towards the gates. When you are lost, that is more reliable than a phone, because GPS is unreliable between high walls. Bab Bou Jeloud, the blue gate, is a good place to aim for.
03
Go into the medersas
Bou Inania and Al-Attarine are both open to non-Muslim visitors and cost very little. The carved plaster and the zellige in Al-Attarine are the best you will see anywhere in Morocco, and they are usually quiet in the early afternoon. The Qarawiyyin mosque and university can only be seen from the doorways.
04
The tanneries, and how not to be shaken down
The Chouara tannery is worth seeing. The terraces above it belong to leather shops, which let you up for the view and expect a purchase or a tip. Neither is compulsory. Decide before you go up what you are willing to give — twenty or thirty dirhams is fair for the view alone — and say no cheerfully. The smell is genuinely strong. The sprig of mint helps less than people claim.
05
Eat where there is a queue of locals
For a sit-down meal, the riads around Batha do a good tagine. For the food that people actually eat, look for the bissara stalls in the morning, the grilled sardine places near Rcif, and the bakeries where the neighbourhood brings its own dough to be baked. A bowl of bissara with cumin and olive oil costs almost nothing and is better than most restaurant starters.
06
Time your week around Friday
Friday is the main prayer day. Many workshops and some shops close for a few hours around midday, and the medina is quieter. It is a bad morning to plan shopping and a very good one to walk.
07
Guides, and when you need one
You do not need a guide to walk the medina — getting lost is survivable and part of it. A guide is worth it if you want the history explained or if you have only one day. Official guides carry a badge and set a fixed rate. Anyone who approaches you at a gate offering to help is not an official guide, and the help ends at a shop.
08
Day trips that are actually worth the drive
Volubilis and Moulay Idriss make one good day together — Roman mosaics still in the ground where they were laid, and a hill town an hour from them. Chefchaouen is three and a half hours each way, which is a lot for a day trip; stay a night if you go. Meknes is close and underrated.
09
What to bring back that is not a rug
Handmade tile, brass, and leather are all made here and all worth buying. Prices are negotiable and starting near half the asking price is normal and expected, not rude. If you want to know what something is genuinely worth before you bargain, ask us — we will tell you, whether or not you have booked anything.
10
Practical things nobody mentions
Cash matters: many small places do not take cards, and ATMs inside the medina run dry at weekends. Tap water is drinkable for most people but bottled is easy. Afternoons in July and August are genuinely hot and the medina has little shade — work mornings and evenings. Bring shoes you can walk four hours in on uneven stone.